On September 16, 2008, Barbados Police Sergeant Paul Emmanuel Vaughn (sometimes spelled Paul Vaughan) was charged with corruptly accepting $56,500 in bribes between December 1, 2004 and April 30, 2007 from Evadney Cindy Bushell in return for protecting her from prosecution for selling pirated DVDs.

We said at the time that the Director of Public Prosecutions Charles Leacock would eventually withdraw the criminal charges against his old friend, Sergeant Vaughn, because the two corrupt public employees had previously been involved together in the Ronja Juman scandal. In short, Charles Leacock had Sergeant Vaughn and his goon squad arrest Ronja Juman in the middle of the night and subject the terrified woman to a vaginal search – over back rent she owed Charles Leacock. There was no way the DPP was going to continue the prosecution of a man who was his friend and a co-conspirator in the illegal activities and abuses that happened to Juman – and we said so.

Well surprise, surprise! The Director of Public Prosecutions recently ordered the withdrawal of the bribery and perverting the course of justice charges against his friend, Sergeant Vaughn. No public explanation was given – and the cowardly lapdogs in the Barbados news media never asked a single question even though the whole thing stinks to high heaven.

As our friend from GBL Blog pointed out, the original charges stated that $56,500 had been paid by Evadney Bushell to Sergeant Vaughan between certain dates. The police who laid the bribery charges didn’t just pull that figure out of a hat, you know! Here is what our friend said…

“Yesterday, prosecutor, Sergeant Trenton Small informed the court that acting on the instructions of the DPP, Charles Leacock, QC, the two charges were being withdrawn by the prosecution.”

- Daily Nation, June 23, 2009, Pg 17.

This stinks to me. I wish I had the original court report so I could point how ‘dead to rights’ this guy was. The 56K figure which seemed connected to him had to come from somewhere. As far as I am aware, an influx of cash of that amount for a civil servant will raise eyebrows, as civil servants are not allowed to work outside of the civil service whilst still employed by the civil service.

There is also the evidence against the accused Evadney Bushell. Did that just disappear into thin air? What brought the charges in the first place?

The article does not say that the case was dropped for lack of evidence, the procedure was not improperly followed, so I am left to ask WHY?

The boys in blue look after their own. That’s why. From the beat cop to the DPP.

The public is owed an explanation for this. We should have had a public trial. We should have a statement from the Commissioner and a press conference with questions.

Barbados is a small society with fewer than 300,000 people. Because we are so small, those in power like the DPP and the Police Commissioner hold an amazing amount of power and autonomy. there is no accountability because the media is constrained by fear and the editors needing to survive.

Anybody who thinks they can win against the police or in court had better think twice. That goes double for outsiders from away who think they can go up in court against anyone in power here. Everything will look normal, but the outcome of the trial was decided the minute they first set foot on the island.

We don’t need to be subjected to your colonialism again, thank you. What we do need is the rule of law instead of the culture of corruption and entitlement that has become the basic behaviour of those in public service.

Forget about the UK.. Be a Canadian province, just like our lovely Prince Edward Island. You will be our Southern frontier . We do have corrupt officials but there is recourse here.Immigration ? a non issue as we can transfer all and sundry into the remote areas

Never give up Anon, or the change will never happen. As individuals we don’t have what it takes to expose the evil, but we can tell the world about it and put pressure on the government and the courts that way. Never give up.

A direct show of power arrogantly displayed whilst stupid bajans just sit back and engage in more shyte talk. Another case of the who, who knows a bigger who getting away a crime committed. If that was me my ass would be smelling old hell up there in her majesty’s prison. The entire government system stinks to high hell and many of people in it are so friggin corrupt. I trust no one in the civil service ministry because most are bunch of devils. A bunch of thiefing, lying crabs in a barrell.

And people wonder why educated and well intentioned young people have lost all faith in fairness, justice, equality, doing the right thing and the concept of actions and consequences…we are and will continue to be truly lost.

What can you expect when the police pay so poorly? The Barbados politicians have refused to pay police a living wage for generations. Is it any wonder that good officers stay for max 5 years then move on? What is left are those who can’t do anything else and couldn’t make more money in another job. The dregs.

Director of Public Prosecutions Charles Leacock has been in the news again lately – so we’ve revisited this past story of corruption. Unlike the mainstream Barbados news media, the blogs don’t let unresolved news stories fade away. We’ll keep bringing this back into memory until this place cleans itself up.
“I love Barbados – but I hate the corrupt and incestuous cartel that seems to run everything.”